A Tale of Two Cities

Another great thing about walking as discovery is noticing how the sights and feels change as you walk from one neighborhood to another. Sometimes just one street more means a drastic difference. Our cruise stopped in Tillbury, England, which gave us access to London, but only for a couple of hours, as it took one+ hour to get there from the port.

That was enough time for me to see how the city, like all others, is full of different stories about how people are living their lives.

The financial disctrict is modern & gleaming:

And masculine:

And clean & green:

The pubs were filled at lunchtime with identically-dressed finance bros & girls enjoying pints and the freedom the gorgeous day offered. Not sure if they’re the best example of progress, but the joy they were having was loud & infectuous:

The Women’s Rugby World Cup was also celebrating progress at a kickoff event in the shadow of Tower Bridge:

Progressing across a bridge, however, took you backwards in time to a different type of world.

You can almost see the change in feels in this pic:

Not as big, not as gleaming:

And very much not as free:

I was luckily already taking this pic when this woman walked by, otherwise I might have violated some medieval rule still followed by the residents in this neighborhood I stumbled upon. While I enjoyed by fave European food there, I sure wish all Londonians enjoyed the same amount of freedoms everwhere in the amazing, multicultural city that it is.